Ten NHS mental health trusts face referral for consent monitoring issues

Ten mental health trusts have been referred to the Care Quality Commission after an inquiry found they were not following consent rules when using camera‑based monitoring in patients’ bedrooms. The referral was disclosed during the latest hearings of the Lampard Inquiry, which is investigating more than 2,000 deaths in Essex mental health units between 2000 and the end of 2023. The technology in question is infrared equipment that can track breathing and pulse without staff entering the room.

The issue surfaced as the inquiry examined how digital tools are being deployed in mental health care. NHS England first heard of safety concerns linked to the Oxevision system in 2021, and an internal email from 2022 showed staff were aware that some trusts were not giving patients a chance to refuse filming. In 2023 NHS England warned trusts not to roll out monitoring technology as a blanket solution and urged them to involve patients in each decision. Campaign group Stop Oxevision later prompted a formal review, which concluded that ten trusts were not operating their consent mechanisms in line with the NHS digital principles.

NHS England’s National Delivery Director for Mental Health, Learning Disability and Autism, Gareth Harry, said the regulator was informed on 2 October and that inspection teams have been briefed on the findings. The trusts have not been named, but the referral signals that the regulator may take enforcement action. Baroness Lampard, who chairs the inquiry, said she would issue interim recommendations if she believes the technology poses a risk to patient safety.

Lawyers for bereaved families have questioned why NHS England waited years to act after the first concerns were raised. Harry said day‑to‑day responsibility for consent lies with individual trusts, not the national body. The CQC has said it will consider the information and act where standards fall short. The outcome could tighten oversight of digital monitoring, reinforce human‑rights safeguards and reshape how mental health services obtain consent for new technologies.